Thursday 09.10 BST. Global stocks are in sharp retreat, led by a savage plunge in Tokyo, as traders are spooked by the prospect of reduced central bank support and a slowing Chinese economy.

Calling for an immediate stimulus to �offset� the austerity scheduled for 2013, David Lipton, the IMF's deputy managing director, said: �We suggest the Government bring forward planned capital spending and consider measures such as reducing the effective ...

Speaking after he delivered the annual British Retail Consortium lecture, Tim Steiner said the reaction of Waitrose to Ocado's tie-up with Morrisons has been a �joke�.

Flybe's made the announcement as it updated markets on its turnaround plan. This included pushing back the delivery of 16 new aircraft by three to four years to help it return to profitability by reducing pre-delivery payment charges this year.

Shares in car parts and bicycle retailer Halfords were hit after it posted a big drop in annual profits. Pre-tax profits for the 12 months to end-March fell almost 25% to �71m compared with a year earlier.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde has arrived at a court in Paris for questioning over a payout to a controversial tycoon during her time as finance minister.

Mothercare posted another big loss in the last financial year, but the UK retailer said it was making good progress with its turnaround plan.

The blue chip index fell 1.5pc at the open to 6733, after closing on Wednesday at just 90 points shy of the record close of 6930.2 it reached during the 1999 dotcom boom.

The US Federal Reserve heralded the beginning of the end for its third round of quantitative easing as Ben Bernanke said it could slow the $85bn-a-month pace of asset purchases �in the next few meetings� if the labour market is strong.

Pennon Group Plc (PNN), a U.K. water company, said fiscal full-year profit dropped 1.1 percent as sales shrank at its Viridor waste-management unit.